Meelo's Story
by Jeff Morris
Summary: There comes a day when a young man must confront who he truly is and who he expects himself to be. And if he's lucky, he'll have an uncle to help him through it.


(182 AG)

"Hey, Yaozu," Bumi called out as he swept into the bar. "How goes? Beer and a bump, if you don't mind." He settled onto the middlemost stool and sighed. "What a day."

"Here you go. Hey, what's with the UF coat? I thought you airbenders wore those squirrel suits like the kid over there." Yaozu nodded toward the far corner of the room, where Meelo sat hunched over his own beer, lost in thought. "Hey, while we're at it," Yaozu added with a grin, "I thought you guys were all 'no personal possessions'. Who's paying?"

"My pension," Bumi laughed. "Tenzin can't touch it." He raised the glass to his lips and shot the bartender a glance; he responded with a single finger. Bumi nodded in acknowledgement and smacked his lips in satisfaction. "Man, that hits the spot, let me tell you." He casually rose to his feet and carried his drinks over to Meelo's table. "Hey, kid."

Meelo didn't even look up. "Go away, Uncle Bumi."

"Now is that any way to greet a fellow airbender?" Bumi chided as he sat down. "Hey, did Yaozu give you the old 'we don't see too many airbenders here' bit? He never gets tired of that." He took another sip of beer. "Word of advice, kid—don't let it get warm. Earth Kingdom beer's better cold."

Meelo sighed and closed his eyes. "How'd you find me?"

"Wasn't hard. For one thing, you're pretty distinctive in that outfit. That's why I usually wear my old clothes when I want some privacy." A slight belch escaped him. "Sorry. Also…your bison out front is pretty hard to miss. Don't worry, Lieutenant is keeping him company. He'll make Chin behave." When no response was forthcoming, Bumi leaned forward and lowered his voice. "You wanna talk about it?"

"No."

"Okay." Bumi lifted his empty glass in the bartender's direction. "I can shut up if that's what you want. Just want to make sure you can do your drinking in peace." He accepted the fresh beer from Yaozu and sipped at it. "Mmmm. Gotta love that Kyoshi brew."

"Did Dad send you?" Meelo asked softly, still staring into his untouched beer.

"Nah. I offered to come and he accepted. I figured you might be more willing to talk to me, that's all. But like I said, if you don't want to, I…"

"You know Kazuke?" Meelo interrupted suddenly.

"The new airbender from up north? Yeah, I've talked to him. Nice guy." Bumi took a swig of beer. "For a self-taught Harmonic Convergeance airbender, he's damned good." Bumi snorted softly. "Not that I believe any of that for a minute, mind you."

"I…was training with him today," Meelo said reluctantly after a long moment. "One of those agility routines - kind of like playing tag, you know?"

"Okay."

Meelo shut his eyes tightly. "So…at one point we kind of collided with each other and fell into a pile. No big deal, we were both laughing about it and blaming each other for it. And then…" He fell silent again, trembling slightly in his seat.

Bumi waited.

"And then," Meelo began again in a shaky voice. "He kissed me."

"Okay," Bumi nodded.

"Don't you get it?" Meelo demanded a bit too loudly. Several heads turned in their direction. "He **kissed** me, Uncle Bumi!"

"Did you like it?" Bumi asked nonchalantly.

"NO!" Meelo declared. After a moment he lowered his head. "Yeah," he said a moment later. "A lot."

"So Kazuke kissed you," Bumi recapped. "And you liked it more than you were expecting."

"Yeah," Meelo said tightly. "I…I kind of panicked. I…ran away." His head was almost touching the rim of his glass. "He must have wondered why."

"Yeah, he did. He came and talked to me about it. For spirits only know what reasons, everybody comes to me, not your father, when they've got questions or problems." Bumi motioned for another glass. "He feels pretty bad about it-thinks he misread you."

"Well, he did," Meelo said a bit too quickly. "I'm not that way. I'm not!" He looked up defiantly. "I like girls! I like 'em a lot! I'm going to be like Dad and have five or six kids and…and…" He looked away abruptly. "I'm not that way," he stammered through his tears.

"Is it a problem if you are?" Bumi asked quietly a moment later.

"Of course it is!" Meelo cried. "I'm Dad's oldest son! I have a duty to the Air Nation! I have to do my part to make more Airbenders! You know that!"

Bumi smiled ruefully as he accepted his new glass. "Have you seen these new airbenders in action? Trust me, that area is more than covered. I thought the acolytes were bad…" He set his glass down and shook his head. "Kid, can I tell you something?"

"I guess."

"The only thing your father wants for you," Bumi said quietly, "is to be happy. All you kids. That's it. Even Ikki, wherever she is. I wish she'd waited or come to me before taking off like that," he continued with a sigh. "Maybe I could have helped. At any rate, kid, if it turns out you prefer guys, so be it. It's not a big deal. You could do worse than Kazuke. A lot worse."

"But my duty!" Meelo protested. "My obligation…"

Bumi cut him off with a curt hand gesture. "Kid, take it from one who knows. The sooner you stop trying to be something you know in your heart you're not, the happier you'll be. I know what it's like to feel like you have to fit a 'role' or fulfill a 'duty'. I was the Avatar's non-bender kid, remember? I tried everything I could think of to be 'the proper son', and you know what? I failed at all of 'em. It wasn't until I talked to my Uncle Sokka and Aunt Suki that I realized what I really wanted was more important. From there on…" He sighed and swished the beer around. "Well, the whole thing with telling Mom about enlisting wasn't fun, but beyond that…it's been good."

Silence fell between them for a long time. "Uncle Bumi," Meelo finally said quietly. "Have you ever…?"

Bumi smiled gently. "Kid, when you're stuck out in the middle of nowhere for months at a time, you learn to take what comfort and pleasure comes your way." He shrugged and sighed. "I mean, after all, your grandfather was pretty open-minded about it, so I figured... "

Meelo blinked in surprise. "Grandpa…?"

"Yep. He once said it was the nature of the Avatar to seek balance in all things, love and sex included. Look at Korra."

"So…what now?" Meelo finally asked.

"That depends, kid. What do you want to do?"

Meelo took a deep breath and sighed. "I…I need to talk to Kazuke," he finally admitted.

"I think that's a good idea," Bumi nodded. "Like I said, he's a good kid. A lousy liar about where he came from and everything, but otherwise a good kid." He grunted and rose to his feet. "You go on and talk to him. I'm going to stick around for one more beer."

"But…wait!" Meelo cried. "What do I tell him? What do I say?"

Bumi turned to smile at his nephew. "The truth is always good, I found. Go from there. Hell, kiss him again and see what happens next. Actions speak louder than words."

"I…" Meelo scrambled to his feet. "Thanks, Uncle Bumi!" he called as he zoomed out the door.

Bumi smiled and sighed. "Kids. Get an idea and off they go, leaving a perfectly good glass of beer untouched." He shook his head. "Why do I always have to be the one who gives 'the lecture'?"

"Because you're good at it," Yaozu laughed, handing him a fresh glass. "Straightened me out back in the day, at least."

"You and about a third of the United Forces," Bumi chuckled. "Ah well. Nice to be needed, I guess."

"Here." Yaozu raised a glass. "To kids, to love and to being needed."

"I'll drink to that," Bumi agreed, lifting his own glass in salute.


End file.
